JAHRA — 2009 · Murder
Jahra Wedding Tent Fire
On the night of 15 August 2009 a wedding tent full of women and children went up in flames in Kuwait's Jahra governorate. With only one exit and no fire-safety compliance, the tent was engulfed in about three minutes. Fifty-seven people, mostly women and children, died and 90 were injured, one of Kuwait's deadliest civilian disasters. The next day the groom's first wife was detained; she initially confessed to setting the tent alight out of anger at her husband's remarriage, then retracted. The court sentenced her to death for arson and murder; the verdict was upheld on appeal and by the Court of Cassation, and she was executed in January 2017.
- Date
- 2009
- Place
- Jahra, Kuwait, Jahra, KW
- Category
- Murder
- Case Status
- Solved
- Coordinates
- 29.3375, 47.6581 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 15 August 2009The wedding tent in Jahra burned down; 57 died.
- 16 August 2009The groom's first wife was detained.
- 31 March 2010The criminal court sentenced her to death.
- June 2011Kuwait's Court of Cassation upheld the death sentence.
- 25 January 2017The sentence was carried out.
Sources
- Al Jazeera — Kuwaiti woman to hang for tent fire aljazeera.com ↗
- The National — Woman who set fire to wedding tent has death penalty upheld thenationalnews.com ↗
- Gulf News — Kuwaiti arsonist sentenced to death gulfnews.com ↗
- The National
- Al Jazeera
- Gulf News
Source grade B: at least one verifiable linked source. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.